Ball-trap.



F. KIIVIBIE.

BALL TRAP.

APPLICATION FILED IUNE a. I9I.

Patented June 5, 1917.

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' F. KIMBLE,

BALL TRAP.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 8.1916.

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`.lcRIlilID KIMBLE, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF T0ANSALEM W. BRUNER, 0F LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

BALL-TRAP.

Speecation of Letters Patent Patented J une 5, 1917.

Application led .Tune 8, 1916. Serial No. 102,455.

To all /wwm t may concern:

Be it known that I, FRED KIMBLE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State ofCalifornia, have invented new and useful Im rovements in Ball-Traps, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a trap for throwing disk targets generally knownas clay pigeons.

It is an object of this invention to provide a superior construction ofa trap in which the throw arm is moved into active position by means ofa single pulling means operated at a distance. The pulling means isconnected to a flexible means wound about the pulley provided with a camengaging a crank arm which puts the throw spring under tension. Thethrow arm is locked when in active position and released when thepulling means is moved in an opposite direction, the release of thethrow arm taking place subsequent to the winding up of the flexiblemeans about the pulley which is effected by a retractive spring. At themoment of release of the throw arm there are no parts or elements of themachine which are likely to interfere with the action of the same, andconsequently a quick clean throw of the target disk is effected.

It is another object of this invention to provide a target trap which issimple of construction, positive in action, and not liable to get out oforder.

With the above and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds, my invention consists in the construction,arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, I have illustrated a convenient andpractical embodiment of my invention, and in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the apparatus.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the target trap.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the target trap taken from the other sideof that shown in Fig. l and with the throw arm end in inoperativeposition.

Fig. i is a similar' view with the throw arm in active position.

Fig. 5 is a rear view of the trap with parts broken away.

Fig. G is a section taken on line 6-6 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 7 is a section taken on line 7--7 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 8 is a horizontal section taken on line 8-8 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 9 is a section on line 9 9 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 10 is a horizontal section taken on line 10-10 of Fig. 6.

Referring to the drawings, 10 designates a pit in which the trap islocated. A horizontal base plate or plank 11 is provided on which thetrap is securely bolted. The trap comprises a turn table base plate 12secured to the base or support 11 on which a rotatable plate 13 ismounted on a central pivot pin 111, extending upwardly from the baseplate 12. A guide pin 15 depending from the rotatable plate 13 extendsinto an arcuate guide slot 16 of the base plate l2. A pair of upstandinglugs 17 oppositely arranged, f

support the target frame 18 by means of bolts' 19. Secured adjacent tothe lower ends of the frame 18 and fast to the rotatable plate 13 is apair of depending stirrups 2O adapted to be engaged by the feet of theoperator for oscillating the rotatable plate 13 and the frame 18 carriedthereby in the usual manner. The inclination of the frame 18 from thevertical may be adjusted by means of an adjuster arm 21, pivoted at oneend of the frame 18, and secured to a supporting plate 22, fast to therotatable plate 13 at the other. A pair of lock nuts engage the threadedend of the adjuster 21` at opposite sides of the supporting plate 22. Byloosening the bolts 19 and the nuts 23, the degree of inclination of theframe 18 may be adjusted, and by screwing the bolts and the lock nutsinto place the frame may be held securely in its adjusted position. Fromthe upper end of the frame 18, a shaft supporting arm 24 extends atright angles thereto at the outer end of which a bearing for a shaft 25is provided. The throw arm 26 is rigidly mounted at the upper end of thelshaft 25 and carries at its outer extremity, a target carrier 27.Referring to Fig. 6 'it will be seen that shaft 25 is rotatably mountedin a sleeve 28, the lower ends of said shaft and said sleeve extendingbelow the arm 24. At the lower extremity of the shaft 25 a crank arm 29is keyed, which eX- tends in opposite directions from the shaft. At oneextremity of the crank arm 29, a pin 30 is secured to which link 31 isconnected, and spring 32 is attached thereto at one end and to a stud33, secured to the frame 18 at the other. The lower section of thesleeve 28 is reduced in diameter and provides a bearing for Va groovedpulley 34 loosely mounted thereon. The end of a chain 36 is secured to acam shaped winding member 37, fast to the pulley 34. The lower face ofthe pulley 34 is provided with a dog 38, adapted to engage as the pulleyis rotated with a crank actuating pin 39, projecting upwardly from theextremity of the crank arm 29 remote from the end of the throw spring32.A coiled retractive spring 40 fast to the arm 24 at one end andencircling the sleeve 28 and fast to the pulley 34 at the other, tendsto 'wind the chain 36 about the'pulley 34.

The outer end of the chain 36 is connected to a pulling rod 41 by a link42 and a link plate 43. The pulling rod 41 is connected to a manuallyoperated lever 44 of the second class, preferably locatedl at theplace'where f the marksman stands to clothe shooting.

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A pair of supporting arms 45 having their upper ends pivoted in spacedrelation to a rearward extension 46 of the frame 18 and their lower endspivoted to the link plate 43, serve to support the pulling'means and actas a release mechanism for the throw arm 26, presently to be'described.Y

rlhe throw arm 26 is provided with a downwardly depending lug or dog 4T,havan inclined face andy adapted to be engaged by a latch 48, mountedfor vertical movement in a socket 49 in the upper end of the frame 18. Acoiled spring 50 confined between the bottom .of the socket 49 and thelatch tends to move the same upwardly. A horizontal pin 51 fast to thelatch 48n and projecting through an aperture in the frame 18 outwardlytherefrom, is engaged in the fork end of a latch release lever 52 ful-'crumed to the frame 18. The other end of saidV lever is provided with abearing yface 53 adapted to be engaged by a cam shaped trigger 54projecting from and integral with the upper end of the supporting arm 45adjacent thereto. The angle and the shape of the cam shapedv trigger 54are so chosen that the latch releasing lever 52 will not be actuateduntil after the chain 36 has been wound upon its pulley 34.

Referring now to the target carrier 27, the same consists of a targetrsupporting base plate 55 secured to the outer end of the throw arm 26.The outer side 'of the targetsupporting plate, that is to say the onedescribing the greatest circle in its rotary movement is provided with aslide rail 56, which consists of a metal rplate parallel to and slightlyspaced from? the upper face of the base plate 55. A strip of rubber 57is secured along theunder face of the slide rail 56, said strip ofrubber projecting a slight distance beyond the inner edge ofthe sliderail. A curved target supporting rail 58 is mounted in parallel andspaced relation to the base plate 55 and oppositely disposed from theslide rail 56 at the inner end of said plate. At the inner end of theslide rail 56 and on the under face of the strip of rubber 57 is a smallleaf spring 59 adapted to engage a circumferential flange of the targetor clay pigeon 60.

rThe operation of the target trap is as follows: The yoperatorstraddl'es the seat 61 disposed to the'rear ofthe trap and above thepulling rod 41. .Vhen the hand lever 44 is moved in the direction shownby the arrow in Fig.. 1, the chain 36 will be unwound from the pulley34' against the ten- .under tension. A semi-revolution of the crank arm29 causes the throw arm 26 to describe a semi-revolution in aeircular'path from the position shown in Fig. 3 to that shown in Fig. 4.As the throw arm 26 and target carrier pass over vthe .spring controlledlatch 48, the latter will engage the dog 47 and'lock the arm in what maybe termed vits active position. The operator now places a clay pigeon inthe. target carrier. The attendant operatingthe lever 44 after havingset thc trap, allows the same to move in the opposite direction. l'heretractive'spring 40 is of suiiicient strength to rotate the'pulley 34,winding the chain 36 thereon, and also moving the pull rod` 41 connectedtherewith. VThe attendant retains his grip on the lever at the pointwhen the continued backward movement Vof the lever would spring thetrap. A few trials will indicate to the attendant the exact positrapwill be sprung instantly. Releasing the lever 44,'the action of thespring 40 will move the pull rod'41, thereby causing the trigger 54 toactuate the latch releasing lever 52, withdrawing the latch48 andallowing the throw spring 32 to swing the throw arm 26 about its pivotand to throw the target. 1t should be noted that at the moment ofrelease, the movable parts such as the chain 36, which might interfere,are out of the way and a clean, swift'throw of the target is effected.

The target 60 is heldin place bythe supportingijaw 58 andthe spring 59.-Just as soon as the centrifugal forces overcome the resistance of saidspring, the target is thrown outwardly, the friction of the rub- -berstrip in the Aslide railr56 retarding that end of the target and'thereby causing the same to rotate swiftly as shown by the arrow in Fig.2.

It is therefore seen that I have constructed a target trap simple ofconstruction, in which the throw spring is actuated by means independentof the throw arm, that the throw arm is released only after the partsliable to interfere with it are out of the way, thereby effecting aclean, quick throw of the target.

While I have shown the preferred construction of thetrap as now known tome, it will be understood that various changes in the arrangement,construction and combination of the parts may be made by those skilledin the art without departing from the spirit of my invention as definedby the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a target trap, the combination of a frame, a substantiallyvertically disposed shaft journaled therein, an oscillatory swingingthrow arm rigidly mounted on said shaft, a pulley loosely mounted onsaid shaft, a coiled retractive spring' surrounding said shaft andtending to return s aid pulley to its normal inoperative position,flexible pulley operating means attached to thc periphery of saidpulley, a crank arm fast to the lower end of saidV shaft, means on saidpulley for engaging and turning said crank arm, a throw springconnecting said crank arm to said frame, a single pulling meansconnected to said flexible means and operable at a distance and adaptedwhen moved in one direction, to put said throw spring under tension, aspring controlled latch engaging said throw arm when the same is inactive position, and means operated by said pulling means on its returnmovement to release said latch subsequent to the winding of saidflexible means around said pulley.

2. In a target trap, the combination of a frame, a shaft journaledtherein, an oscillatory swinging throw arm rigidly mounted on saidshaft, iieXible pulley operating means, resilient means engaging saidpulley and tending to rotate the same to wind said flexible means aroundit, a crank fast to said shaft, means connected to said pulley to engageand rotate said crank, a throw spring connecting said crank to saidframe, a single pulling means connected to said flexible means andoperable at a distance, said pulling means being adapted when moved inone direction to put said throw spring under tension, a springcontrolled latch engaging said throw arm when the same is in activeposition, and means operable by said pulling means on its returnmovement to release the latch subsequent to the winding of the flexiblemeans around the pulley.

3. In a target trap, the combination of a frame, means for verticallyadjusting the same, means for oscillating the same in ahorizontal'plane, a substantially vertically disposed shaft journaled insaid frame, an oscillatory swinging throw arm fast to said shaft, apulley loosely mounted on said shaft, resilient means tending to returnsaid pulley to its normal inoperative position, lieXible pulleyoperating means, a crank arm fast to said shaft, means connected to sipulley for engaging and rotating said crank arm, a throw springconnecting said crank arm to said frame, pulling means connected to saidflexible means and adapted when moved in one direction to put said throwspring under tension, means for locking said throw arm in its activeposition, and means operated by said pulling means on its returnmovement to unlock said locking means subsequent to the winding of theiiexible means around the pulley.

4, In a target trapthe combination of a frame, a shaft journaledtherein, an oscillatory swinging throw arm fast to said shaft, a pulleyloosely mounted on said shaft, resilient means tending to return saidpulley to its normal inoperative position, flexible pulley operatingmeans, a crank arm fast to said shaft, means connected to said pulleyfor engaging and rotating said crank arm, a throw spring connecting saidcrank arm to said frame, pulling means connected to said flexible meansand adapted when moved in one direction to put said throw spring undertension, means operated by said pulling means on its return movement tounlock said locking means subsequent to the winding of the iieXiblemeans around said pulley, said unlocking means comprising a leverfulcrumed to said frame and pivoted to said pulling means.

5. In a target trap, the combination of an oscillatory swinging throwarm, a target carrier connected thereto, said target carrier comprisinga base plate, a slide rail having a strip of resilient material inspaced and parallel relation to said base plate and adapted to engagethe edge of the`target and a spring mounted in said slide rail betweensaid base plate and said strip for frictionally engaging the side ofsaid target.

6. In a target trap, the combination of a frame, a substantiallyvertically disposed shaft journaled therein, an oscillatory swingingthrow arm rigidly mounted on said shaft, a pulley loosely mounted onsaid shaft, a coiled retractive spring surrounding said shaft andtending to return said pulley to its normal inoperative position,

flexible pulley operating means connected.

to said pulley, a crank arm fast to the lower end of said shaft, meanson said pulley for engaging and turning said crank arm, a throw springconnecting said crank arm to said spring, a singlev pulling meansconnected to said flexible means and operable at a distance and adaptedwhen moved in one direction to put said throw spring under tension, aspring controlled latch engaging said throw arm when the same is inactive position, a latch releasing leverpivoted to pulling means,subsequent to the winding oi said flexible means around said pulley.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

FRED KIMBLE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five ycents each, byaddressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

